Friday 5th November - San Francisco - Coulterville (200 miles)
We picked up our hire car at 11am - this time we got ourselves a Chrysler Sebring - another 'compact' car that's easily a family saloon at home . The state of the surface of the road made us think for a while we had a puncture. Despite the web of 'freeways' around San Francisco and the Bay Area we managed to leave easily enough. Typically we somehow got lost in a small town called Modesto and had to ask directions 3 times to get back on our route. The choice of music on radio stations in this area is vast so that pleased us lots. We stopped in an old gold rush town just outside Yosemite Park called Coulterville for some information. After talking to the lady here we decided it would be best to stay right here. She also showed us around her costume shop full of old Wild West dresses and corsets - impressive but only for parties and not day wear really! We stayed in a motel on the top of the hill which also supplied videos to watch. The saloon bar in town had a collection of bug-eyed locals, most of whom seemed to have moustaches or beards. This place is one of the smallest we've seen yet - total population just over 100.

Saturday 6th November - Coulterville - Mariposa
The road to Yosemite (pronounced 'yo - sem - ity' around here) Park was curvy all the way up there with more and more snow on the roadside the higher we climbed - luckily as the sky was blue we didn't need snowchains . Yosemite is a forested area with towering mountain peaks, deep canyons and giant waterfalls. It contains many giant sequoia trees - the tallest kind in the world which can live to be 2,00 years old. We check out the historical video and Indian village and walked the path accross for a view of the spectacular Yosemite Falls which drop a total of 2,500 feet. Despite the bad signposting we managed to find our way back to the car and out of the park. We drove to the next town, Mariposa, and checked into the cheapest motel in town. After deciding on a self-guided tour of the old 'gold rush' buildings in town, we instead spent some time browsing in the distinctly different gift shops where everybody was entitled to free cookies and chocolates as they browsed at leisure. The local Mexican restaurant provided the usual free extras of nachos, salsa and salad and gave us so much food we brought half of it with us for lunch tomorrow. It's easy to pile on the pounds in this part of the world!

Sunday 7th November - Mariposa - Santa Cruz
We were heading westward today back to the coastline of California . We started descending down the last remaining hills of the Sierra Nevada till we hit the flat lands, cotton fields, vineyards and fruit farms of the central belt. We've decided that generally Sue is happier to drive and Derek is happy to play DJ for our journeys and do the map reading. Today we had our best radio selection yet (by far) with a mix of 60s pop, motown, classic rock and soul to choose from - it definitely enhances the journey no end. We reached Santa Cruz mid-afternoon and headed towards one of the only remaining amusement parks on the west coast that is right on the beach front. The 'Big Dipper' wooden rollercoaster is over 80 years old and despite the fact Derek hadn't been on one since he was in Eurodisney in 1993 he decided to brave it with Sue. 3 minutes later we emerged with wobbly legs but ready to tackle greater things in Disneyland! Our walk to the end of the pier revealed some local sea-lions who like to lie on the underboards and make lots of noise. A bottle of wine led us to our first organic restaurant of our trip . All week long the TV and the radio had advertised 'Dallas : The Reunion' on national TV so we gave in and watched like everyone else round here.

Monday 8th November - Santa Cruz - San Simeon (120 miles)
The west coast Highway 1 was our chosen route today. We passed the towns of Monterrey (which used to be the California state capital) and Carmel which once elected Clint Eastwood as it's mayor. The 'Big Sur' coast road is about 100 miles of rugged coastline followed closely by a rollercoaster-like road with sand dunes and lots of pampas grass in places. The were even some grey seals lying out on a beach. Anyone who's seen the film 'Citizen Kane' by Orson Welles will know that it's based on the life of media mogul of the early last century, William Hearst. Well his self-built castle lies about 3 miles back from the coast here set atop a hill and today it's a big tourist attraction. The man's early boyhood travels formed his interest in foreign art and architecture - when he made his fortune he bought stuff from places like Egypt, Spain, Italy, France, England, Greece and Mexico . Most of this he used to pad out his palace that took 15 years to build and $28 million (a fortune in the 20s). He had his own private zoo and used to host such legendary people as Cary Grant, Charlie Chaplin and Winston Churchill. The main house is styled on a Spanish church and there are 3 guest houses with about 17 rooms in each. Tennis courts and indoor and outdoor swimming pools, the outdoor styled with Roman pillars with sculptured slabs imported from Italy. A fireplace in the main ouse was purchased from a Chateau in France. There were artefacts from all over Europe, including 2000 year old Greek statues. By the time we left it was nearly dark so we checked into a nearby motel in San Simeon.

Tuesday 9th November - San Simeon - Lone Pine (300 miles)
Despite the overhead clouds it was warm enough to sit outside eating breakfast. We set off early as we knew we had a long day of driving ahead. The accompany us we had the local music stations of California - they seem to have a definite preference for hard rock music and lots of it - Derek was reliving the songs of his youth as AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Guns 'n' Roses and Pearl Jam songs were played . We headed inland from the coast past vineyards, more cotton fields, flower and fruit farms galore with walnuts, almonds and lemons. We were surprised to be heading by oilfields and their pumps in action. Soon we were climbing by rolling hills with ranches and fields with as many boulders as cattle. The hills gradually turned to more mountainous terrain with the twistiest (is that a word ?!) road we've seen all year. At 6,000 feet we were level with the clouds looking out over the coloured tree tops of autumn in Sequoia National Park and the snowy backdrop mountains of the Sierra Nevada. Dropping down closer to sea level we hit the last stretch of road to the edge of Death Valley. The dual carriageway was a pretty lonely stretch of road but we made it to the relative metropolis of Lone Pine before sundown.

Wednesday 10th November - Lone Pine - Furnace Creek (180 miles)
It took us 50 miles of driving this morning to reach the edge of Death Valley national park. Death Valley itself is one of the hottest places on earth with average temperatures well above 100F in summer . Luckily for us it's November and a partly cloudy day. We decided to stay a night in the park to give ourselves more time here. Driving the roads we descended from nearly 6000 feet to sea-level in about an hour riding over lots of frequent humps along the way. We spotted a coyote crossing the road and walked accross the tops of sand dunes near the roadside. The landscape is pretty arid, barren and rock-strewn - some formations looking like a Tiramisu dessert! Despite thinking we'd seen the last of the castles on our trip, we headed up the almost surreal 'Scottys Castle' only 2 days after being in Hearst Castle. Despite the name a bloke called Johnson actually owned it but 'Scotty' was a conman who managed to somehow live there with Johnson and his wife claiming it as his own. The castle itself as well as being in a desolate, wild place has decorative wooden ceilings, indoor waterfalls and a remote-controlled player piano - it was all built based on Spanish castle styles of the time. By the time our guided tour was over it was getting dark so we headed for our accommodation in the aptly named Furnace Creek . Sharing the grounds with us here are a large number of 'RV vehicles' (caravans if you like) - some are as big as buses and indeed might well be converted buses

Thursday 11th November - Furnace Creek - Boulder City (255 miles)
Our first stop in Death Valley today was Golden Canyon - a walk of a mile took us past falling rocks, menacing-looking crows and washed out roads. Blue skies did indeed make the shaped rock take on an early morning glow. The end of the path brought us to the 'red cathedral' - towering columns of rock that almost do make you feel like you're looking at a cathedral. The 'natural bridge' canyon wasn't quite so impressive. By the time we reached the salt flats of 'Badwater' it was really starting to warm up. Badwater is 282 feet below sea level and considering it's November was very warm - air-con in our car was very welcome. We passed the 'Devil's Golf Course' which was closed like other roads around here due to recent flooding. Death Valley is a place where black widow spiders hang out and there's next to nothing that can grow there . We left it behind to head for the Grand Canyon - about 8 hours drive away. To get there we had to get past Las Vegas (10 slot machines in a petrol station told us we must be close!). As we approached and drove through it we found the road signs to be absolutely hopeless - only local roads were signposted and sod all else really. Luckily we had bought a half decent road map last week and were able to get out the other side. We were in a place called Boulder City (where the men who built Hoover Dam lived) by the time the light was lowering so we visited some motels to see which we preferred. We met a couple of strange locals who showed us rooms ('cat man' and 'Mr Rude') before settling for the place 'Elton John' showed us!

Friday 12th November - Boulder City - Williams (202 miles)
Left Boulder for the Hoover Dam which was just up the road and en-route to the Grand Canyon. It was built from 1931-1935 and is 1244 feet accross and 736 feet high. The concrete used to build the Dam would pave a road from LA to New York . We continued our journey and chose to take part of the famous Route 66 rather than the highway. After refreshment at the Grand Canyon Caverns (we didn't do the tour) we continued to a town called Williams (60 miles south of the Grand Canyon) where we booked in for 2 nights for the grand total of 26 pounds at the Econo Motel. Snow is forecast for here tonight which is weird considering how warm it was earlier at Hoover Dam but not so weird considering it's November and we're at over 6,500 feet!

Saturday 13th November - Grand Canyon
No snow overnight, however it was snowing this morning despite there being clear blue skies overhead. It took us another 60 miles of driving to get to the Canyon national park. Just before we got there we checked out the available helicopter and plane rides over the canyon. The had none at the time due to the gathering clouds and it turned out would have no more at all today. Before we entered the park itself we stopped at the visitor centre to watch the National Geographic film about the place on a huge 'Imax' screen . Apart from the aerial views and the history it gave us an insight to one of the earliest white-water rafting experiences anywhere, on the Colorado river. 1000 feet higher than where we stayed last night we were greeted by melting snow dripping from the trees as we stepped out of the car. The first view (as we thought) was the one that made us go 'Wow!' at the sheer scale of the vertical drops and the total vastness of the canyon itself. It just goes on and on so it would've been nice to see it from the air. Nevertheless the sun shone through and gave the rock red and golden glows at times. It's not possible to walk down in the canyon so everyone has to make do with the walks and viewpoints along the rim. We drove towards the east end of the canyon at 'Desert View' where a tower was built to blend in with the rocky surroundings. Some more viewpoints later and it was time to head back to Williams - despite the sunny day beforehand we drove through a snowstorm for the last 10 miles back. Williams brings back memories of Rathambore in India with the honking late-night trains . There's a local kid's train for Christmas 'the Polar Express' (on which they've based the new Tom Hanks Xmas movie of the same name, so we've been told)

Sunday 14th November - Williams - Las Vegas (180 miles)
Filling up with petrol this morning we noticed that petrol caps have no locking device of any sort. Leaving Williams we passed a graveyard set amongst a wood. We spotted a couple of 'rolling bushes' blown accross the road in front of us just like you might see at the movies. Driving back over Hoover Dam on our way back to Las Vegas the crowds were large and the weather warm (unlike our frosty start this morning). The drive into Vegas itself was like mile after mile of industrial estate - not too many houses. We spotted a motel with laundry facilities in our discount brochure and made our way there - we were greeted by a wedding party as we drove in the gate. The idiot in the laundry, who thought putting dripping wet clothes into a dryer was normal, didn't make our chores any easier! It was time for a walk on the infamous 'Strip' and we made our way to Stratosphere Tower, that was glowing on the horizon, passing many wedding 'churches' and streets with magazines advertising 'adult services' (this is the only part of Nevada where prostitution is illegal)! We queued with gold medallion wearing, unlit cigar-chomping people not to mention the 60 year old woman who thought leopard-skin mini skirts and farcically high heels are good for her image! The views 108 floors up were great and made it easy to see the 'City of Lights' in it's full glory. There was a rather dizzy looking 'fun' ride on top of the tower that drops you down and over the side! Elsewhere there were all the casinos with literally thousands of machines to gamble you money on - we noticed all the women gamblers seemed to smoke too - many vices you could say!